Three businesses evacuate after ammonia leak at fish processing plant

An ammonia leak in the engine room at the Foley Fish Company Wednesday afternoon forced the evacuation of the plant and two neighboring businesses.

CURT BROWN

NEW BEDFORD — An ammonia leak in the engine room at the Foley Fish Company Wednesday afternoon forced the evacuation of the plant and two neighboring businesses.

Fire Chief Michael Gomes said no one was injured or hospitalized as a result of the accident at the South Terminal company.

With a northeast breeze blowing about 10 mph, officials decided to order the evacuation of Maaco and Brodeur Machine, two businesses located to the south and east of the fish processing plant, as a precaution, the chief said.

Gomes said the accident happened when a technician was performing routine maintenance on the plant's refrigeration system and accidentally opened a valve too far, causing ammonia to leak from a compressor.

He said officials can't tell how much ammonia leaked, since it evaporates as soon as it is exposed.

The initial call for the spill came in to the Fire Department at 1:42 p.m.

"This is just a simple accident," Gomes said. "It happens on a fairly regular basis in the city."

At 5:02 p.m., the chief announced that two members of a state hazardous-materials team entered the building and shut off the valve. He added that firefighters were going to ventilate the building and check for any high concentrations of ammonia before turning it back over to the owners.

Peter Ramsden and his wife, Laura Foley Ramsden, co-owners of the fish processing plant, said they expected to resume operations Wednesday night.

"We'll get some product out to customers and we'll be able to make some flights out of Logan (International Airport)," Peter said.

They said the leak was in a secure room, well removed from the plant's production department.

"The leak was extremely minor and in a room completely sealed from any potential interaction with the seafood," Laura said.

Foley Ramsden said the 40 employees who were in the building when the accident happened are all safe and the crew acted appropriately to ensure everyone's safety.

Although the call was received at 1:42 p.m., the haz-mat team was unable to enter the building until about three hours later.

Gomes explained that team members had to travel from several locations, including Hyannis and Brockton, then had to assemble their equipment before entering the building.

"It takes time to assemble the people with the skills to do this in a safe manner," he said.

Throughout the operation, there was a steady rain and a stiff breeze.

That turned out to be a good thing. Gomes said the rain and wind helped ease any potential problems, since the elements break down the vapors that were being released from the fish processing plant's ventilation system atop the building.

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